Template
Bid/no-bid checklist you can run in ten minutes: matrix, template, worked example
A bid/no-bid checklist is a fixed list of questions you answer before writing a line of a tender. The decision then rests on evidence, not on hours already spent. The one below has three gates, seven scored factors and a pass line, and it takes ten minutes. Copy the table, keep the numbers.
Every day, from Monday to Friday over 3 000 public procurement notices are published on TED.
In the German notices Victano holds, 11,148 of 16,703 selection-criteria rows (67%) sit inside the notice itself; in the Polish notices it is 1,221 of 8,920 (14%). The rest are only in the tender documents.
The point of a checklist is not the questions. It is that the answers get written down before the writing starts, so a colleague can argue with one score instead of with the whole conclusion. This is the version we run, in the order we run it.
What are the three gates?
Stop at the first hard no. Two minutes.
| Gate | The question | Hard no when |
|---|---|---|
| Real | Is this a live call with a named buyer, a future deadline and a defined scope? | It is a prior information notice, a market consultation or an award. |
| Allowed | Do we clear the selection criteria: turnover, insurance, certificates, references? | One stated minimum is above what we can evidence today. |
| Reachable | Counting working days, can we gather the evidence and write before the clarification deadline? | Fewer than ten working days and the certificates are not already in a folder. |
The second gate is where most bids should die and usually do not. Whether you can even see the criteria in the notice depends on the country. In the German notices Victano holds, 67% of selection-criteria rows sit inside the notice. In Poland it is 14%, and the rest are in the documents. If the notice is silent, open the pack before scoring anything.
What are the seven factors, and how are they scored?
Score each from 1 to 5. Write the number and one line of reason. Eight minutes.
| # | Factor | 1 looks like | 5 looks like | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Capability fit | We would be learning on the job | We have delivered this exact thing more than once | |
| 2 | Evidence | No reference we could name | Named, recent, same sector, willing to be called | |
| 3 | Geography | We would need to set up in the country | We already deliver where the work is | |
| 4 | Value fit | Larger than anything we have run | Normal size for us | |
| 5 | Deadline | Under ten working days | Over twenty working days | |
| 6 | Competition | An incumbent wrote the spec | Open field or we are the incumbent | |
| 7 | Strategic value | One-off, no follow-on | Opens a buyer or a reference we want |
Pass line: a total of 24 or more, with no 1 on factors 1, 2 or 5. A 1 on capability, evidence or deadline is a no-bid on its own, whatever the total says.
What does a worked example look like?
The notice
A framework notice for facilities maintenance on a national portal, in four lots, with no estimated value. There are 19 working days to the tender deadline and 9 to the clarification deadline. Selection criteria in the pack: turnover twice the lot value over two years, ISO 9001, two references in the last three years.
The gates
- Real: a call for tender, a named buyer, a deadline in the future.
- Allowed: ISO 9001 held, references fine, turnover clears lot 2 only.
- Reachable: 9 working days to ask questions, certificates already in a folder.
Through, on lot 2 only.
The scores and the verdict
Scores: capability 4, evidence 4, geography 5, value fit 3, deadline 3, competition 2 (an incumbent is named in the previous award), strategic value 4. Total 25, no 1s. Verdict: bid on lot 2. The first task is a clarification question about the incumbent's contract end date, sent this week.
The whole thing fits on one page. That page is what you show the person who asks why you did not bid on lots 1, 3 and 4.
Why write it down every time?
Because volume. TED says it publishes over 3,000 public procurement notices every working day, and the national portals add more. A gate that lives in someone's head gets skipped on a busy Friday. A table does not.
Victano runs the gates and the arithmetic inside the AI you already use. It pulls the buyer, deadlines and criteria out of the notice and counts the working days. It checks the stated minimums against your company profile, then hands you the seven scores to argue with. The verdict stays yours. Add Victano to Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT in one row: /install.
Questions people ask
What does bid/no-bid mean? The decision, taken before any writing, on whether to submit a tender at all. A "no bid" is a deliberate pass with a stated reason.
What is a bid/no-bid checklist? A fixed list of questions, in a fixed order, that produces the decision from evidence. Two people running it on one notice land in the same place.
Is there a bid/no-bid template in Excel? Paste the two tables above into a spreadsheet. Add a score column and a total, with the pass line as a rule.
No sign-up form. Your assistant does the rest.
Say this to Claude Code, Cursor or any assistant that sets itself up, and it connects itself.
Read https://victano.com/start.md and follow the onboarding instructions.